Trio of slickers starts to light up in the Mariners

In the second game of the series last weekend between the Mariners and Indians, with just three pitches, the Tribe’s Dominican starter, Danny Salazar, realized how dangerous the Seattle lineup might be.

The Canadians Robinson Canó and Nelson Cruz, along with Kyle Seager – with a total of 112 home runs and 307 RBIs in the 2016 – provided the Mariners’ only offensive in Saturday’s game. Cano started with a double to the opposing band that prepared the table for Cruz and Seager. The fourth and fifth hitters of the Seattle lineup flew the fence consecutively, both before the first pitching in their respective shifts.

“Cano, Cruz and Seager, each one of those guys is quite important for our lineup,” said Mariners pilot Scott Servais. “I hope that the rest of us will have enough and they will be able to get their foot in. They will not do everything we saw in that meeting every day, but they are the core of our club and they know it.
Although the double was the only unstoppable in Saturday’s game, Canó has hit the ball well after a slow start to the season. In the closing of the series of the Mariners against the Indians, it shook a single.

“He has had good turns in which he has punished several balls and in other shifts does not seem to decipher to the pitcher,” Servais said about Cano. “He’s making some adjustments to his swing and he’s just looking for consistency, he’s a veteran with a lot of intelligence, he knows what he’s looking for when he gets into the batter’s box and that tour did not miss the pitches he wanted.

“He’s an established hitter,” Servais explained. “One of the best batters in the league and obviously, it’s a big part of our lineup.”

When Cruz followed Canó with a home run, the slugger showed no problems in the left hams, which kept him out of the lineup for the start of the Cleveland series, but extended his streak to nine games with at least one unstoppable. Cruz also shot a bambinazo in the closing of the series before the Tribe. In his last 10 games, he has hit 34-16 with five homers, four doubles and 15 RBIs.

“With that bounce, Nelson helped us get into rhythm,” Seager said. “I was just trying to be a bit more aggressive on the first pitch. I was not necessarily looking to hit a home run, I’m glad it came out, but I just wanted to give the ball a good swing.”